Life is a Puzzle
by Wolf-blades-wings
Summary: Life has many twists and turns, ups and downs. It never seems to go straight. LeonOC RikuOC DemyxOC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own the OC's and the plotline, but that's it.

_Chapter I_

The clang of two blades meeting in midair echoed through the room. The room was filled with bleachers encircling a large arena. At the center of the arena stood two girls battling with swords. Both looked about the age of 17 or 18. One had dirty-blonde hair that fell a few inches past her shoulders and hazel eyes. Her blade was a regular sword. Teal jewels lined the hilt and the pommel had a tint of teal in it. She was wearing a navy blue, V-neck T-shirt and jeans with faded color. The girl's name was Nicolette.

The second girl had dark brown hair reaching the same length as Nicolette's. Her eyes were also hazel. Her blade was a pale blue and had sapphires lining the hilt. A single sapphire was placed at the top of the pommel. She had on a maroon T-shirt and black jeans. This girl's name was Skyler.

The blades met again and the girls held them in place, each trying to knock the other's weapon out of their hands. It was Skyler who broke the blade's contact. She swung her arm down, causing Nicolette to loose balance. She quickly regained it and swung her blade at Skyler's shoulder. Skyler blocked it and aimed for Nicolette's side. Nicolette tilted her sword to block the blow and used the same attack. This went on for a few seconds, until Skyler managed to knock Nicolette's blade out of her hand.

Nicolette now stood unarmed in front of her competitor. She looked back to where her sword lay on the ground. Skyler swung at her and Nicolette pushed herself into a back flip. As she came back up, she grabbed her sword and swung back at Skyler. They went back and forth dodging each other's attacks until Nicolette finally managed to get Skyler to drop her weapon. Just then, a loud buzzer sounded. Skyler picked up her sword and both girls sheathed their weapons.

A tall, muscular man stood in the highest bleachers overlooking the sparring that had just taken place. He was bald and had dark brown-black eyes. He lifted his hands and clapped with a steady beat.

"Well done, well done," he said to the girls. They both smiled to each other, and then to him.

"Thank you, Master Adán," they said in unison. They then headed back to the stands and sat with their friend, Kaylee. Kaylee was the same age as Nicolette and Skyler. She had light blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes hidden behind glasses. Her shirt was teal and she wore the same type of jeans as Nicolette. She turned to her friends and smiled.

"Great job,"

"Thanks," Nicolette replied.

"Adán seemed impressed," said Skyler. Kaylee nodded in agreement.

"Adán is always impressed with you two," she said. Nicolette sighed,

"He gets impressed with you, too,"

"Yeah, especially with your spell-casting," said Skyler. Kaylee shrugged.

"I guess," she sighed. All three girls turned their attention to Master Adán, who was scanning the room to see who would spar next.

"Kaylee," his voice boomed. Kaylee stiffened. She slowly rose to her feet when she saw he was looking at her. She walked down the long staircase and into the arena to await her opponent.

"Aaron," Adán shouted. A tall, muscular boy stood in the stands. He nodded and walked into the arena across from Kaylee. Some brown hair hung in his face, almost covering his light green eyes.

Kaylee gulped as she readied her sword, a regular blade with an onyx gem in the pommel. Aaron lifted his weapon with ease. Once he did, he looked stronger then he already was. The buzzer sounded and Kaylee suddenly stiffened. She lowered her arm to her side and just stood there, staring at Aaron. He took one step towards her, raising his sword, and she dropped her sword and ran screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Kaylee yelled as she ran around the edge of the arena. Aaron watched her, one eyebrow lifted in confusion. This went on for about twenty or thirty seconds, when Kaylee figured she should fight instead of humiliating herself.

'_It really is the same thing, though_', she thought as she returned to her former position and picked up her sword. She swallowed hard and prepared to attack.

"Squee!" Kaylee shouted as a battle cry as she ran towards Aaron, sword lifted, ready to swipe at his shoulder. It didn't work. Aaron held up his sword so the blades met in the air. He then pushed on Kaylee's and tilted his to the side so that her weapon slid out of her hand with ease.

"Oh no," Kaylee muttered as her weapon hit the ground. She was now facing one of the strongest people there unarmed. Aaron smirked. "Oh no," Kaylee said again, backing up. Aaron followed her, sword lifted. Finally, the end buzzer sounded. "Phew!" sighed Kaylee. She ran to grab her sword and sheathed it. She took one last look at Aaron, who smiled to her indicating a good fight. She gave a quick, forced smile back and ran back to her friends.

Once back in the stands, Kaylee nearly collapsed in her seat.

"I am _never _doing that again," she stated.

"Aw, come on Kaylee, you were only in there for a minute," said Skyler.

"It was the longest, scariest minute of my life," defended Kaylee.

"I thought that was when you got chased by a bee last week,"

"Okay," said Kaylee "that was the second longest, scariest minute of my life,"

----------

Nicolette walked into the garage. Gummi ships lined the gray walls, ready to be used. Others were scattered in the middle of the floor to be repaired. Grunts could be heard from under one of the ships. Nicolette walked to it and bent down so she could see who was under there, although she already knew. It was her friend, David. He was the only person who could fix any problem with any Gummi ship.

"Knock, knock," she said.

"Hi Nikki," said David. He pushed himself out from under the ship and sat up, running his fingers through his messy brown hair. His white T-shirt had oil stains all over it, as did his bleach-stained jeans.

"Need any help?" Nicolette asked, helping to pull David to his feet.

"Yeah, sure," said David, walking over to what looked liked a filing cabinet. He opened one of the three drawers and pulled out a bottle of wax and a rag. "Wax that ship," he ordered, pointing to the one he was just working on. Nicolette nodded and walked back to it.

"So, what's up?" she asked, watching David grab a rag for himself.

"Nothing really. I changed two engines, replaced a battery, and refilled three oil tanks," he said, kneeling down to help her.

"So, you're right on schedule," said Nicolette.

"Basically," said David. Suddenly, Skyler appeared in the doorway behind them.

"Nicolette, come on!" she said. Nicolette and David turned.

"Come where?" Nicolette asked.

"Adán wants us," said Skyler.

"Adán? What for?"

"Just come on!" exclaimed Skyler. She walked over and grabbed Nicolette by the wrist. "Kaylee's already there,"

"See you later, Dave," said Nicolette as Skyler dragged her away. Once they were back in the main building, Nicolette turned to her friend. "What does Adán want?"

"I don't know. He just said he wanted to see the three of us," said Skyler, finally letting go of Nicolette's wrist as they came up to an elevator. Skyler pushed the 'up' button and the girls rushed in as the doors opened. Nicolette pushed the button for the top floor, the rested against the wall. The girls were silent the whole way up.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a long hallway. When they stepped out, their footsteps echoed. They looked at each other before starting. After a long while, the girls came up to a large wooden door. The words Master Adán were carved into it. Skyler reached out and knocked. They didn't have to wait before the door was opened by a small, stern-looking woman. Her hair was pulled in a bun so tight it almost looked painful. She wore small glasses that seemed to slide down her nose.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Master Adán wanted to see us," Skyler explained.

"Off course," said the woman. "Come in,"

"Thank-" Skyler was cut off when the woman walked back into the room, expecting the two friends to follow. Skyler looked to Nicolette, who shrugged, and then they walked in.

As soon as they walked in, they realized they were in a small waiting room outside Adán's office. The woman who had answered the door sat behind a large desk. Opposite the desk was a tiny seating area, containing a red leather couch with matching arm chairs on either side of it. In one of the arm chairs sat Kaylee. She was nervously fidgeting with the pommel of her sword. She looked up at her friends and gave a smile and wave. They both returned it.

"Names?" the woman asked. Skyler and Nicolette turned quickly.

"Skyler,"

"Nicolette,"

"Take a seat," she said, motioning towards the couch. The two girls nodded and sat down as the woman disappeared though a door opposite the waiting room entrance. One she was sure the woman was out of earshot, Skyler turned to Kaylee.

"Kay, do you have any idea what's going on?" she asked.

"No," Kaylee stated, shaking her head to confirm that she didn't know.

"It has to be important," said Nicolette. "Adán never calls us to his office,"

Kaylee and Skyler nodded in agreement. Just then, the woman opened the door and came back in.

"Master Adán will see you now," she said as she walked back to her desk.

"Thank you," the girls said as the walked into Adán's office.

His office was similar to the waiting room. White walls, off-white carpeting, wooded furniture, and red leather seating. Two bookshelves took over the back wall. Adán's desk was placed a few feet away from the opposite wall. A widow was placed on that wall, so that sunlight flooded into the room, aimed at the desk. Three leather arm chairs were set in front of the desk. Adán sat behind the desk. He smiled when he saw the girls walk in.

"Come in, come in. Please take a seat," he welcomed, pointing to the chairs. The girls sat down wordlessly. "I suppose you're all wondering why I called you here,"

The girls nodded.

"Well, as you know, every year we choose three apprentice ranked students of the graduating class to test to become masters," Adán began. Another nod came from the three girls. "Well, this year we've chosen you three,"

The girls gasped. This was unexpected.

"Now, usually there are tests in different forms of battle and magic, but we want to try something new this year. I guess you've all heard of the keyblade wielder?"

"Yes," Skyler and Nicolette said. Kaylee just nodded, since she was too nervous to speak.

"Well, we'll be helping him with Organization XIII. I trust you've heard of them as well?"

"Yes," Nicolette and Skyler repeated. Their nervousness was slowly changing to excitement. Kaylee just nodded as she became more nervous by the second.

"Each of you will be sent to a different world as part of our mission. Skyler, you will be going to Destiny Islands to assist the keyblade master with any battles with heartless, nobodies and anything else that comes your way," said Adán. Skyler smiled.

"I can do that," she said.

"Kaylee," stated Adán. Kaylee squeaked as she looked up at him. "You have our most important job. You will be sent undercover to the World That Never Was and stay with Organization. You'll be our insider, and tell us what the Organization is planning,"

Kaylee nodded nervously, although since the moment Adán said 'undercover' she was sure she would be caught.

"Now, Nicolette, you will be staying at the residence of Hollow Bastion natives-" Nicolette held up a hand to stop him.

"Sorry to interrupt, Master Adán, but we're in Hollow Bastion. Why couldn't I stay here?" she asked.

"Well, you're going to be our go-between. You'll relay messages between Skyler and Kaylee so that each of you knows what's going on. We need to station you away from here so that if the Organization discovers our plan, they have no need to come here. They'll only want you, Kaylee, and Skyler,"

"Understandable," said Nicolette. She sat back, rubbing the pommel of her sword, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it in combat against an Organization member.

"Here's information on where you'll be staying and who you'll be staying with," said Adán, handing each of them a folder. "You'll leave first thing tomorrow. Good luck,"

With that, Adán motioned to the door, as a sign that the girls should leave. The got up and exited. Once in the hall, they all looked from one to the other.

"So, this is exciting, huh?" said Skyler. Nicolette nodded.

"More like frightening," said Kaylee, leading the way back down the hall.

"What's wrong, Kay?" asked Skyler.

"What's wrong? Skyler, where we in the same room! I'm going undercover with Organization XIII!" Kaylee exclaimed.

"So?" asked Nicolette.

"So? So! Nikki, I can't survive there! Have you seen those guys? They'll kill me!"

"Kaylee, calm down, you're over-reacting. They're not going to kill you. You'll be one of them," said Skyler as they entered the elevator.

"Eh," Kaylee sighed as she leaned against the wall.

"Let's not think about this now," said Nicolette. "For Kaylee's sake,"

"Good idea," said Skyler.

"Thanks," said Kaylee. As the doors opened, the girls stepped out and began to walk down the hall to your dorm suite. Along the away, they heard various sounds coming from different rooms, such as a loud TV, a stereo turned up to maximum volume, and someone practicing spell casting. Finally, they came to their room. Skyler pushed open the door and they all walked into the common room.

"So, I guess we should start packing," said Nicolette.

"Probably," said Skyler. Kaylee nodded and each girl vanished into their own bedroom.

----------

Once Nicolette closed the door, she took a good look around the room. A window was placed on the left wall and the wall across from her, each letting in an equal amount of light. The walls were white and the wooden floor creaked a bit were she stood. An oak desk was pushed against the right wall. The dark blue desk lamp shone a bit of light on the book she was reading. Her bed was next to her. She sighed as she sat on the blanket that was a mixture of dark and sky blue. A small, three-shelf bookcase was next to the desk. The top and middle shelves were completely filled with large and small books. The bottom was empty. It was usually were Nicolette kept books that was she too tired to put away right away.

Nicolette got off the bed and knelt on the floor next to it. She peeked under it and pulled out a small blue bag. She put it on top of the bed and walked over to the dresser, which was next to the desk. She piled a few changes of clothes into the bag and placed her book on top. Then, she walked over to the bookshelf and carefully picked out two books on spell casting so she keep reviewing and practicing her magic. As she was taking the books over to the bed, she noticed something else on the desk. The light from the desk lamp shone on it, making the silver shine. It was a small necklace. The charm dangling off it was in the shape of a puzzle piece. The front of the charm read 'best'. Nicolette smiled as she held it in the palm of her hand. It was a friendship charm. She, Skyler, and Kaylee each had one. Nicolette flipped it over and read the back. It said 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Nicolette but the text books in her bag, and put on the necklace.

----------

Kaylee was in the next room. She also took a good look around her room. The bed was on the same wall was the door, like Nicolette's. Two windows were by either corner of the far wall. And to the right was the same arrangement of dresser, desk, and bookcase that Nicolette had. The only difference was that instead of everything being a shade of blue, in Kaylee's room it was all aqua. Kaylee packed everything she needed into an aqua bag. Clothes, a text book, a few books she wanted to read, brush, etc. She sat on the bed and sighed. She then noticed the front pocket of her bag was open. She leaned over to close it, and noticed there was something in there. She pulled it out. It was a chain with a puzzle piece-shaped charm hanging from it. The front of the charm read 'friends' and the back read 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Kaylee smiled as she put the necklace on. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.

----------

The last to pack her things was Skyler. She dug through drawers and sorted through her bookcase to find everything she needed, and wanted, to bring. She stuffed it all into a navy blue bag and sat on the bed next to it, thinking of anything else she'd need.

'_My journal!_' she thought. Skyler reached under the bed and grabbed the journal, clutching something else with it. She stuffed the journal into the back and looked at the extra item she'd picked up. A small necklace. The charm was in the shape of a puzzle piece. The front of it said 'forever' and the back read 'Life is a puzzle. You have to fit the pieces together'. Skyler smiled as she put the necklace on and took a glance around the room. She hadn't taken much, but it still looked emptier.

----------

A knock could be heard on the suite door. Nicolette walked out of her room at a quickened pace to answer.

"Identify yourself!" she called on her way.

"It's David," sighed her friend. She put her hand on the doorknob, refusing to open the door just yet.

"What's your purpose here?" she called. She heard an annoyed sigh from David.

"I come bearing food," he said.

"Well why didn't you just say so?" she asked, opening the door with a satisfied smile. David stepped in, holding a box of pizza and a 2-liter bottle of soda. "I'll go get cups and plates," said Nicolette, walking to a small kitchen area. David nodded and turned to the common room to see Skyler and Kaylee wrestling over a remote.

"What are they doing?" he asked as Nicolette came back and placed the paper cups and plates on the coffee table.

"Arguing over what to watch. You've been here how many times and you've never seen them do this?" Nicolette replied.

"I guess not. What about napkins?" asked David, pointing to the coffee table.

"What?" asked Nicolette.

"Napkins. Those little pieces of paper you usually use to clean things," explained David.

"Right, those. I forgot you're civilized," joked Nicolette. "I'll let you break them up,"

David looked to Skyler and Kaylee as Nicolette walked away.

"Uh, guys?" he said, not knowing how to stop this little fight. "Guys?"

Neither of the girls paid attention to him. Nicolette came back and put the napkins on the table.

"That'll never get their attention," she said.

"Then what will?" David asked, letting Nicolette take the pizza. He put the soda on the table.

"Skyler, Kaylee! Food!" said Nicolette, putting the pizza on the table in front of them. Both friends stopped fighting, dropped the remote, and looked up at Nicolette and David. David shook his head.

"It's that easy?" he asked. Nicolette nodded, putting slices onto plates. Once everyone had a slice of pizza and a cup of soda, they all sat on the couch.

"So, what did Adán want?" David asked. Kaylee shifted uneasily as Skyler and Nicolette smiled.

"We're testing to become Masters," said Skyler proudly. Nicolette explained the whole thing to him. David listened intently until she was done.

"So, who are you guys staying with?" David asked. The girls looked at one another.

"We didn't look at the stuff yet," said Nicolette.

"Well, look at it now," said David. Kaylee walked off and got each of their folders. She handed Skyler and Nicolette theirs then sat back in her spot.

"How first?" asked Skyler.

"How about Nikki?" said David.

"Okay," said Nicolette, opening her folder. She pulled out a piece of paper and began to read. "Miss Montego, for your mission you will be staying at the residence of – They make it sound so important – Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, Aerith Gainsborough, and Squall Leon Leonhart. You will spend two month relaying messages between Miss Kaylee Tristan and Miss Skyler Alita. You will aid your new companions in keeping Hollow Bastion free of unwanted heartless and nobodies," Nicolette put the letter on her lap for a moment. "They word these things so formally," she commented.

"Does it say anything else?" Skyler asked. Nicolette glanced at her letter again.

She replied, "Not much. Just that at the end of the two month period, I'll come back here in order to attend graduation,"

David nodded and turned to Skyler. "Why don't you read yours?" he asked. Skyler nodded and opened her own letter.

She cleared her throat and read, "Miss Alita, for two months you will responsible for keeping the keyblade master, Sora, updated on the intentions of Organization XIII. You will be given messages from Miss Kaylee Tristan by Miss Nicolette Montego. You will also give messages for Miss Tristan to Miss Montego. You will have to tell Sora what Miss Tristan tells you so that he may be informed with any plans and/or suspicions that either of you have," Skyler stopped to take a breath. Clearly her job was more complicated then Nicolette's.

"You will be staying at the residence of the keyblade master and his friend Riku and Kairi," Skyler continued. "At the end of your two months you will come back to Hollow Bastion for your graduation and hopefully for your promotion to Master,"

Kaylee swallowed hard. "I guess it's my turn," she said nervously, opening her letter. She swallowed again before reading it.

"Miss Tristan, your part in the mission is the most important, but it also the most dangerous. You will be sent to the World That Never Was and stay at the Castle That Never Was, which is the known residence of Organization XIII. During your stay, you will pose as a nobody and go by the name Kexlae. Do not forget this name, for everyone in the Organization will call you Kexlae. At the end of the two month period, we will have two Masters come and take you back to Hollow Bastion so that you may join in your graduation and hopefully become a Master,"

Once Kaylee was done, David raised his cup. He cleared his throat and said, "I propose a toast!"

The girls laughed and raised their cups as well.

"To you three for hopefully becoming Masters," David announced.

"Here, here!" said Nicolette.

"Cheers!" Skyler and Kaylee exclaimed.

**A/N**

**So, what did you think? I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you enjoyed reading it! And I'm actually surprised at how long it turned out to be. It took about 14 pages on Word, so there you go. The next chapter will have Nicolette, Skyler, and Kaylee's (um…Kexlae's) first days with their mission. R&R!**

**-Wolf**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just the plot and OCs.

_Chapter II_

The three friends stood outside the school, bags on their shoulders, their swords were sheathed and hung from their hips. Nicolette sighed and looked at her two friends. They looked back. Skyler gave an encouraging smile and Kaylee gulped. All three were a little scared, but equally excited. Kaylee also seemed anxious to get it over with.

Nicolette turned away, now looking at the three Gummi ships in front of them. She couldn't believe she wouldn't actually see Skyler and Kaylee for the next two months. She'd hear from them, sure, but it wouldn't be the same. The girls turned at the sound of footsteps behind them. It was Adán. He smiled as he came to stop behind them. All three turned to face him.

"Are you ready?" Adán asked kindly. The friends nodded nervously. "Then what are you waiting for?"

The girls adjusted their bags on their shoulders and headed for their ships. They looked to each other before boarding.

"See you soon," Skyler said.

"Yeah, see you," said Nicolette.

"Hopefully," said Kaylee. With that, they entered the ships and closed the doors. A minute or two later, all three Gummi ships were in the air and headed in different directions.

----------

Nicolette knew her flight would be short. She didn't have too far to go. As she piloted her Gummi ship, she couldn't help but wonder what these people would be like. She didn't even know if they actually wanted her there. She just knew that they would welcome her into their home for this mission and probably this mission only.

She glanced down, watching some buildings wiz by. Hollow Bastion was still slightly in ruins, but some places seemed just fine. She rubbed the pommel of her sword, feeling the cool, teal gem under her fingers. She set the Gummi ship on autopilot and fumbled in her bag until she found a map Adán had given her. She scanned it, seeing the building where she was supposed to go marked with a red 'x'. She then looked down, seeing the same building down below. Wow, that really was short.

Nicolette took control of the ship again, and gently lowered it to the ground. She stuffed the map back in her bag, and jumped out. She glanced up at the building before continuing forward. Once she got to the door, she knocked, then stepped back, switching her bag to the opposite shoulder, and waited. Moments later, a girl about her age appeared in the doorway. Her short, black hair framed her face, a black headband barely noticeable under her bangs. She had on a completely black outfit, as well. Shorts and a tank top to be precise. She eyed Nicolette, then a huge grin came to her face.

"You must be the person from that training school!" she exclaimed. Nicolette nodded, and held out her hand, which the girl shook.

"I'm Nicolette," Nicolette introduced herself, once her hand was released. The girl remained grinning. "And you are?"

"Oh, sorry! My name's Yuffie!" she said.

"Nice to meet you, Yuffie," said Nicolette with a smile. There was a moment of silence before Yuffie cleared her throat and said,

"Why don't you come in?"

Nicolette smiled again and nodded. Yuffie grabbed her by the wrist and practically dragged her inside, letting the door slam behind them. Once inside, Yuffie turned to Nicolette and said,

"Let me introduce to everyone. Well, once I find them,"

"Sounds good," replied Nicolette.

"Okay, wait here!" said Yuffie. And with that, she darted off. Nicolette could tell that Yuffie was very hyper and energetic. She imagined she'd be somewhat like Kaylee. Hmm, this was going to be interesting.

A few minutes later, Yuffie ran back to Nicolette, dragging behind her a very confused, and slightly annoyed, boy. He looked to be in his early twenties, maybe a bit younger. Some of his long brown hair fell in face. He wore black jeans. A few belts hung loosely around his hips, hitting his legs as Yuffie dragged him. He also wore a small, fur-collared leather jacket over a plain white T-shirt.

"Yuffie, _what _do you _want_?" he questioned as she finally let go of him. He rubbed his wrist with a gloved hand and glared at Yuffie.

"Just hold on," she said, darting away without another word. The boy looked over at Nicolette. She gave him a small smile, which he returned quickly, before staring at the floor. Nicolette shrugged and waited, debating with herself on who was more energetic: Yuffie or Kaylee.

"Back!" the two heard Yuffie call. Nicolette looked over to see her dragging two more people. A girl with long hair wrapped in a braid that rested against her back, and a man, who looked very irritated. Yuffie let go of the two and let them stand next to the first boy. They all glanced at each other, and then to Yuffie, who was currently pulling Nicolette closer to the group.

"Nicolette, this is Leon,"-the first boy-"Aerith,"-the girl-"and Cid."-the now less-irritated man-"Guys, this is Nicolette. She's the one from that training school... thing,"

"Hi," Nicolette said with a small smile.

"Hello," the group said in unison. Yuffie cocked an eyebrow.

"Okay, that was weird," she commented.

"Whatever," said Cid. Aerith nodded and Leon just shrugged. Yuffie then grabbed Nicolette's wrist again.

"I'll show you your room," she said. Nicolette nodded. She allowed herself to be forced upstairs by Yuffie, leaving the small group behind. Yuffie led Nicolette to the last room on the right. "There you go!" she said.

"Thanks," replied Nicolette. She walked inside, gave another 'thank you' to Yuffie, then closed the door. The room was slightly small, but it would work. Nicolette slumped on the bed, glad she could finally put her bag down. She also removed her sword and set it down beside her. She wondered how her friends were getting along.

----------

Kaylee landed her Gummi ship with a slight thud outside Castle That Never Was. She shuddered as she got out and looked at the massive castle. She took slow, steady steps to the door. She nervously raised her hand and knocked twice. She then waited for a few seconds, before turning away.

"Oh well. No one's home," she said, a bit of relief in her voice. She started walking back to her ship when she heard someone's voice behind her.

"Where are you going?"

Kaylee turned to see a fairly tall man, probably in his twenties, looking at her from the wide doorway. He had fiery red, spiked hair that fell just past his shoulders. His eyes were a bright emerald green. Underneath his eyes were two triangular, almost teardrop-shaped markings. He wore a long black cloak. In his gloved hands he held two chakrams. Kaylee swallowed hard.

"I was, um, just going to the, uh, castle," she stated nervously. The man cocked an eyebrow and turned to face the castle, then turned back to Kaylee, allowing his chakrams to disappear.

"The castle's that way," he said, pointing over his shoulder.

"Oh, of course it is. So I'll just go that way," said Kaylee, walking back toward the huge building. The man stepped aside, letting her in, then followed her, closing the door noiselessly.

"So, you must be the new member," he said. Kaylee cocked her head.

"Huh?" she asked.

"You're here to take Roxas's place," he stated. Kaylee suddenly remembered why she was there.

"Oh right. Yep, that's me," she said.

"What's your name?" asked the man, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh…Kay-I mean, Kexlae," Kaylee quickly lied. She felt her face getting hotter as a bead of sweat formed on her forehead. The man cocked his eyebrow once more.

"Okay then, Kexlae," he said. After this, he made his voice sound more confident as he straightened up, pulling back his shoulders and lifting his head a bit more. He pointed at himself and said,

"I'm Axel. Number eight of Organization XIII, The Flurry of Dancing Flames,"

He then leaned closer towards Kaylee, who was fighting back laughter as she heard his title, still keeping his proud stance, and added,

"Got it memorized?"

Kaylee pulled back as Axel straightened back up. She slowly nodded.

"Good then. Come on, I'll introduce to the rest of the Organization," Axel said casually, walking past Kaylee. She nodded again and followed him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. He soon stopped in front of a large oak door. Kaylee quickly stopped, trying to avoid knocking into him. He already looked a bit frightening to her. She didn't want to see him angry.

Axel opened the door to reveal the meeting room. The entire Organization was there. All eyes turned to Axel as he strutted into the room. They then turned to Kaylee as she followed nervously behind him.

"Kexlae, let me introduce you to The Superior, Xemnas, number one in the Organization,"

Kaylee looked at the man Axel pointed to. Xemnas nodded, obviously pleased with his introduction. He then crossed his arms in front of his chest and kept his gaze on Kaylee.

"Number two, Xigbar, The Freeshooter,"

The man called Xigbar nodded, keeping his un-patched eye on Kaylee as he fingered a gun arrow in his lap.

"Number three, Xaldin, The Whirlwind Lancer,"

Xaldin leisurely switched a long, blue lance from one hand to the other and back, watching Axel's introductions. Kaylee looked up at him and then back at the floor, afraid of how skilled he probably was with the lance.

"Number four, Vexen, The Chilly Academic,"

Kaylee couldn't help but stare at this one. His dirty blonde hair was just about as long as hers. He glared back at her, and she gave a squeak of fear that Axel pretended not to notice.

"Number five, Lexaeus, The Silent Hero,"

As Kaylee looked at Lexaeus, she couldn't help but wonder why they called him hero.

"Number six, Zexion, The Cloaked Schemer,"

Kaylee felt one of the Cloaked Schemer's eyes watching her. She was pretty sure the other was doing the same, but she couldn't tell since his hair covered most of his face.

"Number seven, Saïx, The Lunar Diviner,"

Saïx grunted as he held a firm grip on his claymore.

"You know me already," said Axel, arrogance in his voice as he continued on. "Number nine, Demyx, The Melodious Nocturne,"

Demyx was busy tuning his sitar, so he looked up with surprise when Axel said his name. He slowly lowered the sitar to his lap as he shot a welcoming smile to Kaylee. She squeaked with joy when she realized that one of these guys might actually be nice to her. Axel ignored the squeak and continued on.

"Number ten, Luxord, The Gambler of Fate,"

Kaylee switched her gaze from Demyx to Luxord, who seemed to be rolling dice in hands during the introductions.

"Number eleven, Marluxia, The Graceful Assassin,"

Kaylee held back laughter once she saw Marluxia. His hair. It was pink!

"Number twelve, Larxene, The Savage Nymph,"

Larxene shot a glare at Kaylee which forced her to take interest in the floor. A hint of sadness could be heard Axel's still-arrogant voice when he introduced Kaylee to the group.

"Everyone, this is Kexlae, our new number thirteen,"

Axel sighed as Kaylee wondered why he would be sad while introducing her. Did he not like her? Did he not want her here?

"Thank you, Axel," said Xemnas dryly. Axel nodded and proceeded to his seat. Kaylee watched as he left, wondering what she was supposed to do. Her question was soon answered.

"Kexlae!" Xemnas boomed. Kaylee jumped and looked up to face him, surprised at how loud he could make his voice. He toned it down with his next sentence. "You can take Roxas's seat,"

Kaylee looked at him, confused. Xemnas sighed, and sat back, clearly annoyed. Kaylee shrunk back, hoping she didn't anger him. She looked at the members of the Organization. She stopped when she saw Axel pointing to the empty chair at the end of the line. She gave a weak smile to thank him, then scurried to her seat. She hoped her friends were doing better than she was.

----------

Skyler circled Destiny Islands in her Gummi ship, enjoying the view. She finally landed, and swung her bag over her shoulder. She stepped out of the ship and onto the warm, soft sand, her sword bumping her side as she walked. She stepped around the ship to find two boys wrestling in the sand. One had spiky brown hair and seemed a bit shorter compared to the second. Skyler could see that the brown-haired boy had bright blue eyes, which he closed every now and then as his competitor nearly shoved him into the ground.

The other boy had silvery hair that fell past his shoulders, some of it hanging in his face. His eyes, Skyler could see, were also blue. But his were brighter then the other boy's and they had a slight green tint to them. Both boys looked to be about Skyler's age.

After getting the brunette to the ground, the silver-haired boy looked up.

"Sora, we have company," he said, allowing his friend to get up. Said brunette looked over to see Skyler while brushing sand off his clothes.

"Looks like we do," he said, leading his companion to her. "Hi, I'm Sora,"

"Skyler," she replied, shaking Sora's hand. Sora's friend walked up to them, looking Skyler over.

"You're from the training academy, aren't you?" he asked.

"Sure am!" said Skyler proudly.

"Nice to meet you," the boy replied, holding out his hand. Skyler shook it as he introduced himself properly. "I'm Riku,"

"Nice to meet you too, Riku," said Skyler. Riku nodded.

"Kairi's around here somewhere," said Sora, glancing around.

"You'll know her when you see her," said Riku. "We'd better get cleaned up," he added, indicating his and Sora's clothing, which were now covered in dust and sand.

"Yeah, good idea," Sora replied, rubbing a bit of dirt that stained his shirt. "See you around, Skyler!"

"See ya," said Skyler. Riku smiled before Sora began to drag him away. Riku quickly released himself and began talking with Sora on their way back.

Skyler stood there, smiling as she watched Riku walk off.

"I can do this," she stated to herself.

**A/N**

**Okay, so this is where I'm leaving off. The stuff in the next chapter could probably fit into this easily, but I wanted to get this chapter up since my friends (Author 1 and Sarah the Slayer) really wanted to read it. The next chapter's gonna be really fun to write! Hehe! Kaylee's gonna have to fight an Organization member as somewhat of a test. Yay! Bye for now!**

**-Wolf**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own the OCs. I own the plot. End of story.

_Chapter III_

Skyler had spent the rest of the day in her Gummi ship, setting up the laptop that she would receive and send messages from. She finally stepped out in time to catch the last few rays of sun creeping back behind the horizon. They sky was stained pink, red, and a golden yellow. It set a calming mood over Destiny Islands. Skyler liked that. Back at school, it was never completely calm. Something was always going on. A sword fight, an archery class, people having a stupid fight in the hall. It was never as quiet as this. It was never as serene.

Skyler started down the sandy beach. The waves lapped up, barely missing her as they slipped up the shore, then splashed her a bit as they hurried back. Skyler found a large rock further down the beach. She settled onto it and turned to face the horizon. She liked the peace of this place. Skyler turned as she heard soft footsteps behind her. It was another girl.

Her red hair framed her face nicely. Some of it dangled past her shoulders. She had on a small pink dress. She approached Skyler with a smile, then stopped next to her, placing a hand on the rock.

"You must be Skyler," she said, holding out her other hand. Skyler shook it quickly.

"And you must be Kairi," she replied. The girl smiled and nodded.

"Sora and Riku said they met you on the beach earlier,"

Skyler smiled and laughed a little.

"Yeah, I'll never forget that," she sighed. "Riku was shoving Sora's head in the sand,"

Kairi laughed as she pictured what that had to look like. The two talked while they watched the sun go down. Skyler told Kairi about her life at the training academy and about Kaylee and Nicolette and Kairi told Skyler about life on Destiny Islands and she told her a little bit about Riku and Sora. Once the last bit of sun light slipped away, the girls departed in different directions. Skyler went back to her ship and Kairi went to wherever it was she wanted to go.

----------

As the moon rose, Kaylee was finishing setting up her laptop. After the meeting, which mostly consisted of staring at and glares towards Kaylee, Axel had shown Kaylee to her room and she had spent the rest of the evening there. Well, until she heard Xemnas yelling outside her door.

"Kexlae!" he shouted. Kaylee shut her laptop and shoved it under her bed. She opened the door and nearly slammed into Xemnas as she hurried out. The Superior glared down her. "Follow me," he ordered, turning away and starting down the hall. Kaylee followed nervously, wondering what he was going to have her do.

Xemnas led Kaylee outside, where there was a large, circular training arena. Axel stood in the center, chakrams in hand. The rest of the Organization was gathered around the arena. All eyes turned to Xemnas and Kaylee as they entered. Xigbar threw a black bundle at Kaylee. She caught it and held it up, revealing it to be a black cloak. Xemnas then pointed to the arena. Kaylee knew what that meant.

She scurried into the huge arena. She stood across from Axel, then unsheathed her sword before putting on the cloak. She looked back towards the Organization, who where all anxious to see the fight.

"Just think of this as a sort of…test," said Xemnas. Kaylee gulped and turned back to Axel, who was now in a fighting stance, chakrams ready. Kaylee gulped again and slid into her own fighting stance, holding her sword directly in front of her.

The two stayed still for moment, watching each other. Kaylee then decided to make the first move. She lifted her sword and lunged forward, aiming for Axel's shoulder.

"Squee!" she shouted as her sword came down. Axel held up a chakram to protect his shoulder, and then looked at Kaylee, puzzled.

"Squee?" he asked. "What the heck is 'squee'?"

Kaylee pulled back, bringing her weapon to her side. She looked at Axel and replied simply,

"Tis my battle cry,"

Axel shook his head, then darted at Kaylee with one chakram held out and the other held firmly at his side. Kaylee lifted her sword, hearing metal clanging on metal as the weapons met. They pulled apart quickly, and Axel went in for another attack. Kaylee dodged it by tucking down and doing a forward roll. They were now on opposite sides of the field. Kaylee turned to face Axel again, only to see that he now had a wall of fire erupting behind him; his chakrams were held above his head.

"Oh crap," Kaylee squeaked as a string of fire snaked its way towards her. She jumped to side, barely avoiding it. Axel grunted in disapproval. He then shot another sting of fire at her. She jumped again, but the fire grazed her arm, burning a bit of her sleeve. She winced as the freshly-burned fabric hit her skin. She growled as she jumped for him, avoiding his flames at all costs.

As Kaylee darted for him, Axel threw a chakram at her. She lunged away from it, but it circled around and one of its sharp edges tore her burnt sleeve. Oh well. At least it didn't cut her. Axel caught the chakram as it came back towards him. He smiled as he blocked a blow from Kaylee. She sighed, then lifted her sword and attacked again, this time aiming for his side. Axel surrounded her blade with fire, causing her to quickly pull away.

Once she was sure there was no damage done to the sword, except for a blazing hot tip, she smiled as she readied to attack. Axel gulped as he quickly realized his mistake. By protecting himself from a most likely harmless attack, he'd given her a more powerful weapon. The steel of her sword was now giving off the heat from his fire. Kaylee ran at him, swinging her sword in the air wildly. She struck him in the side just as the heat was wearing off.

Axel fell over in shock. He dropped a chakram, letting his hand wander to where Kaylee had just hit him. The fabric of his cloak was torn a little. It felt a bit warm, but she hadn't hit too fiercely. His skin wasn't cut. Bruised at the worst, but not cut. He groaned as he forced himself to his feet, picking up his chakram. He spun around to face Kaylee, who was back in her fighting position. Axel lifted his chakrams and tossed them into the air. They criss-crossed over each other and whizzed past Kaylee, hardly missing her head.

Kaylee ducked as the chakrams curved back. Axel caught them at the same time, almost knocking himself off balance. Kaylee lift back up then lunged at Axel, sword raised. He held up a chakram and continued to block blow after blow until he was finally able to catch her sword. It banged between two of the spikes on Axel's weapon. Axel took this as an opportunity and pushed as hard as he could, knocking his opponent to the ground. Kaylee landed with a thud, looking back up at Axel. He threw a chakram into the ground next to her, inches away from her arm.

As he bent down to pick it up, Kaylee stuck her blade in one of the circles that the spikes protruded out from. She clutched the hilt with both hands, pushed down so that Axel couldn't pull the weapon from the ground. Growing aggravated, Axel pulled with all his might, ripping the chakram from the dirt. Kaylee slipped in the process, and dug her blade into the ground to prevent herself from ending up with a face-full of dirt. She pushed on the pommel, lifting herself to her feet. She then gripped the hilt and tugged on it, struggling to release the weapon.

"Not so easy, is it?" Axel questioned, his voice heavy with arrogance. Kaylee grunted and pulled, stumbling backwards as the sword was removed from the dirt. She turned around, to see that Axel had let his chakrams disappear. Kaylee sighed with relief after realizing the fight was over. She sheathed her sword and looked at the Organization. Most of them seemed surprised she'd lasted that long.

Xemnas motioned for her to come out of the arena. Kaylee nodded, and started to walk away. Axel strode after her, hand on his bruised side. As she walked, a twinge of pain in her arm reminded her of Axel's attack. She glanced at it, noticing through the rip in her cloak that the chakram had given her a small cut. She stopped in front of Xemnas, who simply looked down at her. Axel stepped back to the line of Organization members, watching Xemnas intently.

Kaylee looked into the face of the Superior. She couldn't make out the expression he wore. Was it satisfaction or disappointment? After a long minute, Xemnas spoke.

He said, "That was rather impressive, Kexlae,"

Kaylee continued to look at him. "I-it was?" she asked. He nodded, and then walked off. Each Organization member followed after him in rank order. Axel gave her a nod of approval as he passed, which seemed like a good compliment considering how arrogantly he presented himself. Demyx gave her that same warm smile as before when he walked by. Kaylee smiled back at him.

----------

Late that night, Nicolette shut down her lap top and left it on the desk. She then peeked down out in the hall to see if anyone was still awake. Ever since Yuffie showed her the room, Nicolette had kept herself up there, working with the lap top and wondering about her friends. Now she felt the need to practice with her sword.

The hallway was dark and quiet. No sounds could be heard from any of the rooms. Nicolette smiled as she decided everyone must be asleep. She belted on her sword and started downstairs. Little did she know that one person was still up: Leon. And he noticed her in the hall. And curiosity got the best of him as he got up and followed, grabbing Revolver on his way out.

"Where are you going?" Leon asked as soon as Nicolette put her hand on the door knob. She jumped and spun around, sword hitting her thigh.

"Um…Just going for a walk," she said innocently. Leon raised an eyebrow and pointed to her weapon.

"With that?"

Nicolette's hand made its way to the sword's hilt. "I can ask you the same question," she replied, indicating the gun-blade in his hand. He shrugged.

"You going to answer me?"

"I like to practice swordsmanship," she replied simply, her grip on the hilt loosening.

"Want a sparring partner?" Leon asked.

"You?" she asked, shocked, although she didn't know why she felt that way.

"I'm up. I have nothing to do. Yes or no?"

"Sure,"

"Then let's go,"

He brushed past her and opened the door, standing to the side so she could first. She walked past him in the same manner he had and waited for him to slowly and quietly close the door. He led her around the side of the building and they each got into a starting position.

"Let's see how well they trained you over there," he said. Nicolette smirked.

There was a long pause, each of them watching the other intently. Every now and then, Nicolette would transfer her sword from hand to the other or raise it above her head. And every time she did that, Leon tensed, only to find out she was merely testing to see his reactions. Although how much information she would gather from that, he wasn't sure. But apparently the small observations she had made satisfied her. She raised her sword and charged at him, only to be blocked by Revolver's thick, heavy blade. She pulled back and he made his first attack, aiming at her shoulder.

Nicolette blocked him as quickly as she could, swinging her arm down to push him out of the way. It didn't work as well as she hoped, for the next thing she knew, Leon had knocked her to the ground. She gasped for breath and pushed herself to her feet, seeing Leon back in his fighting stance. She charged again, aiming for his side. He blocked her and stepped to the side. Nicolette stumbled and turned on her heel. As soon as she faced him again, she charged once more.

This time, the blades met in the air. But it was only for a split second, for the holders pulled the weapons back quickly. She jumped back at him, finding herself blocked by the gun-blade. She jumped back as he attacked. Nicolette found it hard to block him this time, and almost didn't. She caught his blade on hers and backed up so that she held her sword at arms-length. She pushed her sword up and down the large steel blade. Leon cocked his head slightly, wondering what it was that she was doing. He caught on quickly that she was distracting him, and attacked before she could.

The two got into a battle of clanging steal, moving back and forth in what seemed to be a straight line. Finally, Nicolette broke the continuous string of pointless attacks by forcing her weight backwards, flinging herself into a back flip. She straightened up and lunged at him again. Leon blocked only to find himself back into that same string of back-and-forth attacks.

They broke apart, both breathing heavily. Beads of sweat rolled down their faces.

"You're pretty good," Nicolette commented. Leon grunted in response. She shrugged and flung herself at him, sword raised. He blocked it and knocked her to the ground a second time. She smiled as she got up and attacked once more. They fought with all their strength, swinging their weapons at each other every chance they got.

After a few minutes, Nicolette smirked again. She had taken her time to understand his reactions to quick attacks, so now it was time to change strategies. There was another pause during which the both caught their breath. Once Leon could see Nicolette was in a fighting stance, ready for the next round, he tensed, ready for more endless attacks.

To his surprise, she did nothing. She just stood there. He took advantage and lunged at her. Their blades met in the air and pulled apart in the blink of an eye. They found themselves back where they started. And once again, Nicolette did nothing. Leon was forced to attack her again, this time their blades remained in contact longer than before, but were soon forced apart.

Leon found himself very confused. Why wasn't she attacking? Was she getting tired? He shook his head, not ready to fall into any traps. And just like he had expected, she jumped at him again. The fought back and forth for another five minutes before Nicolette ended the battle. As soon as the blades came in contact for the hundredth time, she swung her arm down, her free hand gripped Revolver's hilt, which Leon clutched tightly. She dropped to one knee and used the dullest part of her blade to sweep his feet out from under him.

Leon fell to the ground with a large thud. He gasped, wind completely knocked out of him. He the slight metallic twang of metal, and look over to see that Nicolette had thrown her sword into the dirt. She held out a hand and helped him up. Both were breathing heavily, exhausted from their little duel. He smiled as she pulled the blade of the ground and sheathed.

"You're not too bad," he said.

**a/n**

**Okay, that was fun chapter! Hope you liked it! In the next chapter, Skyler will fight Sora just for the heck of it. Sounds like fun, huh? R&R!**

**-Wolf**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: No different from the last chapter, my friends. I don't own Kingdom hearts () but I do own the OCs and plot ()

_Chapter IV_

Skyler swept at Sora's feet, sighing with disapproval as he jumped over her blade. Darn that agile keyblade wielder! He swung the keyblade at her shoulder, only to have it blocked and to have Skyler give a forceful counter-attack, landing him on his back. She smirked as he scrambled to his feet.

Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy watched in amusement as the two traveled back and forth on the sand, every now and then pushing each other to the ground. They all laughed when Skyler forced Sora to do a face-plant and end up with a mouthful of sand. Skyler nearly doubled over she was laughing so hard. Sora growled and lunged for her, with no real set up. This allowed her to easily step to the side and let her competitor taste the sand once more. She snickered as she fought to keep him on the ground. Sora attempted to get up, but failed miserably as Skyler's strength and hold on her sword against the keyblade kept him kneeling on the dirt.

She finally let him up and sheathed her sword, signaling that she didn't want to fight and more. Sora got up, leaving the keyblade in the sand, and brushed off his clothes. Skyler cocked her head and asked,

"How long has it been since you've trained?"

"Haven't kept track," Sora replied. Skyler smirked.

"Oh, 'cause I beat you bad!"

"Did not!" the keyblade master defended. Skyler lifted an eyebrow. "I'm just having an off day."

"Sora, face it, she beat you," Riku commented. Sora shook his head.

"I said I was having an off day. Any other day and she would've lost."

"Sure," said Skyler disbelievingly.

"Come on, Sora. Accept defeat," said Kairi.

"Yeah, everyone has to loose sometimes!" said Goofy. Donald nodded.

"So get over it!" the duck shrieked. Sora glared at his friends.

"I didn't loose!" he exclaimed. "I had an off day. Off days don't count!"

"What's the matter, Sora?" Riku asked with a smile. "Can't accept the fact that you got beat by a girl?"

"Riku! Shut up!" Sora exclaimed. He ran for his silver-haired, who was now darting towards the water. The two ended up wrestling in the shallow parts of the ocean.

"Sore looser!" Skyler called as Riku pushed Sora under. Sora struggled and managed to pull himself back up.

"Am not!" he sputtered, talking to Skyler as he tackled Riku. A wave washed over the two. They came back up sputtering and soaked.

----------

Meanwhile, in Castle that Never Was, Kaylee found her stomach growling. She searched around the huge building until she found the kitchen. And when she walked in, she was pleased to see a plate of brownies sitting on the counter. A huge grin spread across her face. She laughed an odd, evil/psychotic-sounding laugh and whipped her head around to be sure no one was watching. Once she was sure no one was there, she literally lunged for the sweets.

A few minutes later, Demyx walked into the room to see a small figure in a black cloak crouched on the floor, back facing him. He recognized the blond-white hair immediately.

"Kexlae?" he asked. "What are you doing?"

Said psychopath turned to face him. She was holding a plate of brownie crumbs and chocolate was all over her mouth.

"This can't be good," Demyx muttered. Kaylee laughed that same psychotic laugh under her breath. "Aw crap…"

Kaylee jumped up, the plate smacking on the floor as she dropped it, and starting running towards Demyx.

"Squipidalion!" she shouted. Yes, it was another nonsense word, like 'squee', that she had made up. Demyx darted out the door, followed by Kaylee. Number 9 managed to escape the sugar-high Kaylee by slipping into his room.

"Demyx?" she asked as she came to screeching halt in the next hallway. "Where'd you go?"

When she got no reply, the sugar-high teenager simply shrugged.

"Oh well," she said. "Squeep!"

And with another random word, she continued running. Her little one-man marathon quickly ended when she slammed full-force into none other than Saïx. Great. The collision had barely made the pointy-eared nobody sway, while it knocked Kaylee to the group. She looked up at Saïx, who was currently glaring at her.

"Eep! Don't hurt me!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and running the other way. Saïx just watched her, confused.

"Hey, Kexlae!" said Axel as Kaylee stumbled into his room on accident. "Lookin' for something?"

A grin appeared on Kaylee's face as an idea formed in her head.

"Actually, I had a question for you, Axel," she said.

"Alright. Go ahead," he replied.

"Can you cry underwater?" she asked. Axel considered it for a moment, then shrugged.

"I don't know. Ask Demyx,"

"He ran away from me. Oh, I have another question!"

"Okay."

"How important does a person have to be to be considered assassinated instead of just murdered?"

Axel thought about it.

"I have no clue," he replied.

"Okay then. What disease did cured ham actually have?"

"I don't know," said Axel. "Why are you asking me?"

Kaylee shrugged.

"If a 911 operator has a heart attack, who do they call?"

"I don't know. They probably have other operators around them, I guess," Axel answered. Kaylee giggled with joy that he hadn't figured out what she was doing. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Hey, if Jimmy cracked corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about it?"

"Because someone wanted to prove that no one cared."

"But doesn't that mean that they cared?"

"If it does, then they failed miserably,"

"Interesting," Kaylee said, pretending to be fascinated.

"Kexlae? Are you just trying to bug me?" Axel asked. Kaylee doubled over with laughter. That was a yes. "Get out," Axel said.

"Okay," said Kaylee in between giggles. Before leaving, she stood at the door, composure regained. "I just have one more question."

"What is it, Kexlae?" asked an aggravated Axel.

"If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?"

Axel couldn't help but laugh at that one. Kaylee laughed too. Then, she calmed down, yelled "fweep!" at the top of her lungs, and ran out the door and down the hallway.

Soon, she found herself in a large bedroom. She looked to the wall to see Marluxia's red and pink scythe resting against it. And evil grin crept onto her face and after being sure no one was passing, she lunged for the weapon. She grabbed it and walked of the room casually. Marley really shouldn't have left it there. As soon as Kaylee was back in the hall, she let out an evil cackle and raced down the hallway, swinging the scythe as she ran.

Little did she know, Marluxia was walking down the same hall. She crash into him, causing him to stumble backwards and her to land on her back for the second time that day. Kaylee scrambled to her feet as Marluxia eyed her and his scythe suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" he grunted. Kaylee shoved the scythe behind her back.

"Nothing," she said, followed by innocent whistles.

"You know I can see the deadly weapon you're holding," said Marluxia. Kaylee's grip on the weapon tightened.

"No you can't," she said. Marluxia cocked an eyebrow. A bead of sweat rolled down Kaylee's face. "Fine, here!" she exclaimed, shoving the scythe into Marluxia's hands and darting off without another word.

----------

Nicolette and Yuffie sat outside their home. Nicolette was reading a book and Yuffie was just plain bored. She looked over to her companion and a grin appeared on her face. She poked Nicolette on the side of the head happily.

"Ow! What was that for?" said Nicolette, looking up from her book for the first time in an hour.

"For fun!" Yuffie replied, repeating the action.

"Quit it!" Nicolette demanded.

"No!" Yuffie exclaimed, poking the warrior repeatedly. Nicolette finally started poking her as well, and soon the poking turned into a small, girly slap-fight. Leon walked up while the girls were squinting their eyes and slapping each other's hand mercilessly. They stopped and looked up at him innocently. Leon shook his head.

"Girls," he muttered before walking away, hearing the girls' giggling behind him.

----------

Kaylee sat on a table while Vexen was in one of the chairs, reading some chemistry book intently. Kaylee had been staring at him for the last five minutes, and it finally got on his nerves. He looked at her with an aggravated expression.

"What?" he asked. Kaylee cocked her head.

"Are you a man or a woman?" she asked with curiosity.

"What?" Vexen growled.

"Are you a man or a woman?" the new member repeated. Vexen slammed his book on the table and stood up. Kaylee gulped. "Uh…he-he…gotta go!"

With that, Kaylee jumped off the table and darted out of the room, Vexen stomping angrily behind her. She darted into a room which appeared to be a library. She looked up at the many shelves of book, eyes wide with awe.

"Literature!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She then heard Vexen's footsteps. "Books!" she shouted, "Shield me!" She jumped behind a book shelf and quietly crawled to the other end of the room, where there was a second doorway. She snuck out, then bounded away. Vexen heard her running and was following after her in a heartbeat.

As the two ran, Demyx stepped out of his room. He was stopped in his tracks when he saw Kaylee rushing towards him.

"Myxy! Hide me!" she yelled, leaping behind him. He soon saw why. Vexen was stomping behind her like an angry five-year-old. The musician smirked at the thought.

"Meeting!" Xemnas' voice rang out. Vexen stopped his attempt to kill Kaylee and walked off.

"You okay?" Demyx asked as they started following him. Kaylee nodded. "Why was he chasing you?"

"I asked if he was really male or female," Kaylee replied. Demyx considered it.

"You know, I'm not actually sure," he said jokingly. The two laughed. "So, what did you call me back there?"

Color rose in Kaylee's cheeks.

"Nothing," she said in a slightly squeaky voice before darting away without knowing where she was going. Demyx shook his head and smiled.

**A/N**

Yes, I know it was a shorter chapter. But it was funny, right? Right! Anyway, I just had to throw that Demyx moment in there. That's for you, Author 1! And in the next chapter there will be a Riku moment. I'm just not sure what it will be yet. So, anyway, press the pretty review button and do as it says: Submit a review. TTFN!

-Wolf


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Sill don't own Kingdom Hearts. Still own plot. Still own OCs. Oh, and I don't own the "Kitty Cat Dance". Or Three Musketeers or Snickers bars. Or Invader Zim. You'll find out why I said that later.

_Chapter V_

Kaylee sat in the meeting room with the rest of the Organization. They had been listening to Xemnas droning on for about an hour now, and Kaylee was getting bored. Larxene looked over to see her following something in the air with her finger. She elbowed Marluxia and asked of he knew what their new member was doing. Marluxia shrugged and went back to pretending he was listening to their leader.

In truth, Kaylee had spotted a fly. She was following it as it flew around in circles in front of her, laughing to herself about much more amusing this fly was compared to Xemnas. She sighed as the little bug flew away from her, and then started humming.

Larxene, Marluxia, and Luxord all stared at her. Then Demyx and Axel, soon joined by Saïx, Zexion, and Lexaeus. Kaylee started humming louder, which gave her the attention of Vexen and Xaldin, and soon after, Xigbar and Xemnas. She had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice the entire Organization was staring at her as she started to sing.

"Cat! I'm a kitty cat! And I dance, dance, dance and I dance, dance, dance!"

The Nobodies exchanged glances, then turned back to watching Number 13.

"Cat! I'm a kitty cat! And I meow, meow, meow and I meow, meow, meow!"

Xemnas cleared his throat loudly, then: "Kexlae?" Kaylee stopped.

"Was I singing that out loud?" she asked. Xemnas nodded, looking angry. Kaylee shrunk back in her seat. "Oopsie."

* * *

Skyler, Riku, and Sora were sitting on the beach talking. They were getting to be good friends now, although Sora still hadn't gotten over the fact that Skyler beat him. It would be a while before he would accept it, and before Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Skyler would stop bugging him about it.

"Hey, Sora!" the group heard Donald's voice ring out.

"What?" asked Sora. They saw Goofy standing next to the duck, grins on both their faces.

"Sora got beat by a girl! Sora got beat by a girl!" they chanted, dancing around with linked arms, "Sora got beat by a girl! Sora got beat by a girl!"

Riku and Skyler started laughing hysterically, nearly doubling over as the two talking animals chanted.

"Sora got beat by a girl! Sora got beat by a girl!" they just wouldn't stop. Sora was fuming.

"Shut up!" he bellowed, pushing himself to his feet and darting towards Donald and Goofy.

"Eep!" they both shouted, running towards the water. Then a sly grin appeared on Donald's face. He whipped around, grabbed Sora's wrist and, with the help of Goofy, threw the keyblade wielder into the ocean. Riku looked over to Skyler, who was giggling happily.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked. Skyler looked up at him, a huge smile on her face.

"He's getting eaten by a shark!" she exclaimed. Riku, Donald, and Goofy burst out laughing with her as Sora emerged, coughing and soaked.

"What's…so…funny?" he asked between coughs.

"Oh, nothing," said Riku, though he was still laughing a little. Skyler was next to him, about ready to collapse on the sand because of how hard she was laughing. Sora cocked an eyebrow.

"Sure," he said, followed by another cough.

* * *

Nicolette and Yuffie had been getting along pretty well. They had told each other all about their friends and lives, and had now gotten into one of the weirdest conversations of their lives.

"Seriously Nicolette, I think Three Musketeers bars are better than Snickers," Yuffie said.

"No way, Yuffie. Snickers are superior," Nicolette replied.

"I don't know how you can think that,"

"Because it's true,"

"Is not!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Is so!" Nicolette retorted.

"What are you two babbling about?" asked a very annoyed Cid.

"Cid, which is better? Three Musketeers or Snickers?" Yuffie asked. Cid glared at her.

"Honestly, I don't give a crap, Yuffie," he said.

"Just answer the question," said Yuffie. Cid sighed.

"I don't give a crap, Yuffie," he repeated.

"Answer the question!" Yuffie shouted.

"I don't want to!" Cid exclaimed. He then noticed Nicolette glaring at him. "What?"

"Thanks to you," she took a breath and screamed the next part, "I can't hear!"

Cid put his hands over his ears.

"And now I can't hear!" he bellowed. Yuffie was the next to glare at him.

"Neither can I!" she screeched.

"Shut up!" they heard Leon shout. The room went silent.

"What's wrong with him?" Yuffie asked.

"He's been in a mood today," Cid replied, "I think he's just upset."

"About what?" the ninja asked.

"Rinoa," Cid replied, "I think it might be the anniversary of the last day he saw her."

"Aw…Poor Squall," Yuffie said with a pout.

"If you don't mind my asking," Nicolette said, "Who's Rinoa?"

"Leon's old girlfriend," said Cid.

"We don't know what happened, but he hasn't seen her in years," Yuffie explained.

"She's the only one who ever got that kid to open up. He didn't talk anyone before her. To Rinoa, that guy was an open book," Cid continued.

"He hasn't really talked to anyone since she left," said Yuffie.

"He must be having a dark day," Nicolette commented.

"No, Leon doesn't have dark days. Leon has dark weeks and dark months. He doesn't eat, I doubt he sleeps. He just sulks around being rude to everyone, snapping at everyone, making sarcastic comments whenever he can," Cid explained.

"He gets really moody," said Yuffie.

"Well everyone gets like that sometimes," said Nicolette, feeling as if she was defending Leon.

"Leon gets like that too much," said Cid. They heard a crash coming from upstairs.

"That sounded expensive," said Yuffie.

"What was that?" asked Cid.

"I think Leon got angry at an inanimate object," answered Yuffie.

"You see?" Cid said to Nicolette, "Too much."

* * *

Back at Castle That Never Was, Kaylee was amazed that she made it out of the meeting room alive. Not only as she happy with fact that no one tried to kill her bursting into song, but she was glad she hadn't died of boredom. Xemnas went on and on, skipping from speech to speech about how they needed to get their hearts back, about Kingdom Hearts, about how Sora was going to get in their way, and something about enjoying pretty flowers, although she could've made up the last one.

Demyx walked into the kitchen to find the crazy warrior sitting at the table with her head down.

"Um, Kexlae, did you have any sugar?" he asked nervously. She lifted her head to see him. She looked very tired.

"No," she replied, "No more sugar. Too much sugar. Suffering…sugar hangover."

"What's a sugar hangover?" Demyx asked.

"It's like a regular hangover, only it's caused by too much sugar," she explained before literally slamming her head back onto the table. She mumbled something Demyx couldn't understand.

"Come again?"

"Do you have any aspirin?" she muttered. Demyx shook his head, then remembered that with her head down on the table she couldn't see him.

"Nope,"

* * *

Sora had stayed in the water, splashing Donald and Goofy whenever they came near.

"God they're nuts," Skyler commented. Riku laughed and nodded. "Are they always like this?"

"Pretty much," Riku replied with no hesitation. "Hey, you want to go for a swim?"

"That depends," said Skyler, "Are there sharks in the water?"

"No. None that we've seen," answered Riku. Skyler nodded.

"Okay, but if there's any sign of one I'm screaming and running. I hate sharks."

"Don't worry," said Riku. He saw a smirk grow on Skyler's face.

"Race ya!" she shouted, darted towards the water.

"Hey, get back here!" Riku yelled after her, sprinting to keep up.

"No way!" Skyler called out. She saw Sora bobbing in the waves and got a great idea. She slowed a little as she entered the shallows, then lunged for Sora, tackling him and pushing him under.

"What was that for?" he asked after he had struggled his way back up.

"I was bored," said Skyler, giggling. She looked back to see Riku walking up to them and laughing.

"Good one, Skyler," he said.

"Really? Yay!" Skyler yelled. She jumped up and down clapping, and then tacked Riku. "How was that?" she asked as she let him back up.

"That was…pretty good, too," he said. Skyler was grinning ear-to-ear. "You know, you can get off me now," Riku told her. She glanced down to see that she was still on to of him.

"Sorry," she squeaked as she pushed herself away.

**A/N**

Yay! Riku moment! Everyone go "aw". Oh, and sorry about the typos in the last chapter. I didn't proof-read that one. Anyway, for anyone who didn't know why I said I didn't own Invader Zim, I used one of Gir's (the cute little robot's) lines. It was "He's getting eaten by a shark." So, in the next chapter there will be, yep, you guessed it, a Leon moment. Yay! Oh, and for any Riku fans, I have a RikuOC oneshot coming out soon called "Dreamers". Hope you read it! Anyway, to get back on topic, please R&R!

-Wolf


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Read the disclaimer for the last five chapters and you'll know exactly what this is going to say. I don't KHII, I own the OC's, I own the plot. You probably could've guessed that on your own.

_Chapter VI_

Skyler paced back and forth in front of a small line of palm trees. As Sora and Riku walked up to her, they realized she was mumbling something to herself.

"Uh…Hi Skyler," said Sora. Skyler head snapped up.

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking to myself!" she shouted, then sat down with a huff. Riku and Sora exchanged glances, and then sat down with her. Skyler continued muttering to herself, then looked over to Sora again. "Hey, Sora, could you stand up for a minute?" she asked sweetly.

"Um…Why?" he asked.

"Just do it," she replied. Sora stood and Skyler followed. She marched up to him and measured her height compared to his. "Darn it! You're taller than me!" she complained. Riku got up and measured the two.

"Actually, his hair is taller than you," he said. Skyler turned to him and now compared his height with hers.

"You're taller than me, too!"

"So?" both boys asked.

"I'm gonna have to live with the ants!" Skyler whined.

"No you won't," said Riku.

"I'm gonna have to live with the bees!" she continued.

"I doubt it," said Sora.

"I'm gonna have to live with the spiders!" She shuddered. "I hate spiders."

"Why?" Riku and Sora asked in unison.

"Because I'm short! I'm too short! When you guys are older and I bother you, you'll just be able to step on me and then scrape me off on the sidewalk!"

Her new friends could only blink with confusion. In truth, Skyler was a little short for her age. But notice the word 'little'.

"I'm short!" Skyler screeched, followed by fake sobbing. Riku put a hand on her shoulder and she abruptly stopped. "Yeah?"

"You're not that short," said Riku. Skyler looked at him with disbelief, but let it slide.

"Fine," she muttered.

----------

Kaylee and Axel had been getting along pretty well. Axel still seemed a little upset when someone mentioned that she was number thirteen now, and Kaylee didn't like how arrogantly Axel presented himself, but other than that, they could be considered friends…well, probably more like acquaintances, but they were still on good terms with one another. They had been sitting in the hallway have a conversation about how weird the other Organization Nobodies could be.

"-Seriously, I think he may talk to the flowers in that little widow box of his," Axel was saying, talking about Marluxia.

"Really?" asked Kaylee, holding back laughter. Axel nodded. "Hey have you ever noticed Saïx's ears?"

"What about 'em?" Axel asked.

"They're all…pointy," Kaylee explained, "Is he part elf or something?"

"Uh…Kexlae?" Kaylee ignored him.

"I mean, does he really live in a society of elves?"

"Kexlae?"

"He-he…he's hiding the fact that he's an elf-man!"

"Kexlae!"

"What?"

"Turn around." Kaylee did as she was told and a shiver went down her spine as she saw that she was now face-to-face with said elf-man. She gulped with total and complete fear.

"Uh-oh," she muttered before getting up and darting past Saïx, screaming in horror. Saïx clutched his claymore and started stalking after her angrily. Kaylee was in trouble.

As she ran and screamed in terror, Kaylee managed to slam into an open door. Demyx's open door, to be precise. She fell to the floor, and then looked up at the confused Nobody.

"Hi Myxy!" she said cheerfully, waving her hand like a lunatic. He smiled and waved back. That's when they both heard an angry Saïx stomping down the hall. "Bye Myxy!" Kaylee yelled in a rushed voice.

She sprang to her feet and rounded the corner, ending up smashing into a wall. She stumbled backwards and sprinted forward, meeting up with the wall again, then again, and again, and again. It was a never-ending cycle, really. Saïx stood there for a moment, watching her. He shook his head.

"Well," he said, "I have nothing to do here." With that, he turned on his heel and walked off, still keeping a firm grip on his claymore. Axel, who had been following out of boredom and pure amusement, watched Kaylee for a moment then looked to the side to see that the door next to the new member was to her room. He rolled his eyes and pushed open the door. He gripped Kaylee's shoulders and redirected her to face the room then, with a small push, he let her run inside and fall face-first onto her bed.

Demyx, who was now extremely confused and curious, had ventured out of his room and was now standing next to Axel in Kaylee's doorway. He looked at Axel then to Kaylee, back to Axel, Kaylee then Axel again.

"Is she dead?" he finally asked. Axel stared at him in utter disbelief. But, he had no time to answer considering Kaylee answered Demyx's question for him.

"Squeeple!" she shouted, lifting her head slightly. After that, she let her head collapse back onto the bed and continued to stay immobile.

----------

Nicolette was sitting in her room pondering over what she was told about Leon. Since she'd gotten here she'd noticed that he was distant and cold, but she just thought it was only his personality. She never would have thought that he was once open, even to just one person. As she thought about she realized what a hard time he must be having, especially since everyone seemed to be giving up on him. Cid had portrayed himself as an insensitive jerk when he talked about Leon and Yuffie almost treated it like a game.

Just an hour ago Nicolette had heard Yuffie bugging Leon. She called him Squall, made light comments on Rinoa, and laughed when he slammed his door in her face. Nicolette hadn't heard any noise or sign of life in his room since, except for some music he had turned on earlier to drown out Yuffie's constant annoyance. He turned it off after she got bored about twenty minutes ago. The person Nicolette wasn't entirely sure about was Aerith. The two of them hadn't talked much, and Aerith pretty much spent all her time in her room or the kitchen.

She couldn't image how he must feel. She could understand for the most part, but she'd never truly felt that way. It must feel like the world's working against him, like nothing would go right for him. Nicolette finally got up and exited the room; she walked until she was face-to-face with Leon's door. She knocked gently.

"What?" was the gun blade wielder's cold response.

"It's me," she said innocently. She heard a sigh of relief, which was most likely because Leon was glad it wasn't Yuffie. It took a minute before he opened the door. When he did, she noticed the broken computer on the floor. Most likely the inanimate object Yuffie claimed he got mad at.

"What do you want?" his voice was still cold, but he managed to make it softer than before. He looked upset, angry, distant and a little confused.

"Yuffie and Cid told me about Rinoa," she replied. He glanced at her. For a brief moment she saw a flicker of anger in eyes, as if they shouldn't have said anything. Then, those blue eyes held the upset, distant, and confused look they had before.

"So?"

"So I wanted to know if you were okay." They looked each other square in the eye.

"I'm fine." She shook her head.

"Whatever you say." As she turned to walk away she was stopped by his sudden question.

"Why do you care?" She sighed.

"Because it didn't seem like anyone else did."

----------

Skyler had been sitting in her Gummi ship for a few hours now. She was incredibly and bored and couldn't think of anything to do. She opened her lap top and checked her e-mail. Nothing. She clicked on the 'compose mail' icon and a small window appeared. She typed in Nicolette's address and wrote,

'_Hey Nikki! What's up? I'm fine. Have you heard from Kaylee? Bye._'

A response came within seconds.

'_Hi Skyler. Nothing's new here. I haven't heard anything from Kaylee. Glad to hear from you._'

Skyler smiled.

'_I met someone here._'

'_Someone?_'

'_A guy._'

'_Cute?_'

'_Very._'

'_That's cool._'

'_How's it going for you?_'

'_So, so._'

'_What do you mean by that?_'

'_It's okay. The people are nice. But I still miss you._'

'_I miss you, too, Nikki._'

"Hey, Skyler!" Skyler heard Donald's voice from behind her.

"Yeah?" she asked the duck. He grinned.

"Sora wants a rematch with you." Skyler looked at him quizzically.

"He wants to get to beat again?" Donald laughed.

"He wants to prove that he was just having an off day." Skyler shook her head.

"Give me a few minutes. I'm busy." Donald sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell Sora." Skyler smiled. As she turned back to the computer she said,

"Thank you." Donald nodded and walked away, leaving Skyler to talk to Nicolette.

----------

Kaylee was walking past the meeting room when she heard various voices discussing something. She stopped to listen.

"-it would help. Someone needs to show her the inner workings of the Organization, show her what it's really like," someone was saying. She recognized it as Xemnas's voice.

"Like a trainer? Or tutor?" Saïx asked.

"Yes. Exactly like that."

"So, who should do it?" asked who she thought was Xigbar. Kaylee pressed her ear against the door to hear better. She knew they were talking about her.

"I'm not going to." It was Axel's voice.

"Why not?" asked Xigbar, "You afraid?"

"Axel has done enough for Kexlae. He doesn't have to do anymore," stated Xemnas.

"So who?" asked someone else. Kaylee tried to make it out. Her best guess was Marluxia, and she was right. There was a pause. She figured Xemnas was scanning the room, looking for someone. She pushed the door open a crack, hoping no one would notice. They didn't.

"It has to be someone experienced," Larxene commented.

"Silence," Xemnas muttered. She glared at him but soon thought better of it and turned away. "Zexion." With that statement, the room began buzzing with conversation. "Silence! It is decided. Dismissed."

The members got up and started filing out of the room. Kaylee ran back to her bedroom out of fear of being discovered.

**A/N**

Okay, well, that was fun. Oh, and that whole rant Skyler had at the beginning of the chapter was something that my friend Sarah does all the time. It's kinda fun to watch!

Wolf


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own KH or KHII. Yep, still own plot and OCs. That stuff isn't gonna change, people.

_Chapter VII_

Kaylee woke the next morning to someone forcefully pounding on her door.

"Squeep!" she shouted as she jumped up and landed on the floor next to the bed, gravity taking place and bringing down the blanket over her head.

"Kexlae!" It was the now-familiar voice of The Superior.

"Tweep!" Kaylee yelled nervously throwing the blanket to the ground as she stood up. She raced to the door as Xemnas banged on it once more.

"Kexlae!" he shouted so angrily it sounded as if he'd been doing this all night.

"Fweep," Kaylee squeaked as she opened the door. Xemnas folded his arms over his chest and stared down at her. She was quickly pulling her cloak on over clothes. Her hair was fairly neat but half messy while her glasses were askew. After hurriedly zipping her cloak she straightened them on the bridge of her nose then smoothed out the back of her hair with her hand.

"Come with me." Kaylee did as the Nobody said. He led her down the hall where Number Six was waiting with his arms crossed. His purple-grey covered half his face and he seemed to have a permanent glare and frown fit on his face. "I hope you remember Zexion, The Cloaked Schemer."

"Y-yes Superior." Kaylee held her had out to Zexion. He glanced at it then simply nodded a greeted. She squeaked and pulled back.

"He will be training you. For all of this week you will not leave his sight until nightfall. In the mornings you will meet him in the meeting room and proceed from there. Understood?"

"Y-yes Superior," Kaylee stuttered. Zexion nodded. Xemnas looked between them and before parting bid them a good day. "S-so, um, wh-what now?" Zexion shrugged. He turned on his heel and walked away. Kaylee just stood there then remembered Xemnas's words. "W-wait for me!"

----------

Skyler stood in the sand tapping her foot. She was waiting for Sora to come for their rematch.

"Where is he?" she thought out loud. Finally she saw him approaching with Riku, Goofy, and Donald. "About time!"

"Yeah, yeah." Skyler pulled her sword from its sheath and stood in a ready stance.

"Are you ready?" Sora nodded. He swiped the air with his keyblade then took his own ready stance. There was long pause in which Sora and Skyler watched each other and Riku, Donald, and Goofy debated on who would win. Suddenly Skyler leapt at Sora, blade held high. She swatted at his shoulder as she landed, only to have her blade to be blocked by the keyblade. She grunted and back up then took a running start towards the keyblade master.

He sidestepped to avoid contact with her blade and she stumbled to her hands and knees. Sora lashed at her and she twisted around to hear the forceful clang of metal upon metal. The sound caused the competitors'- as well as the spectators' – ears to ring. They tried to avoid the distraction but found it hard. Skyler pushed herself to her feet and took another lunge at Sora. He intercepted the blow and pushed on her blade, followed by a determined counter-attack.

She stopped him and pushed against his weapon, forcing him to the ground. He grunted but wouldn't let the fight end there. He bounced back up and leapt at her. The two engaged in a battle of back and forth attacks and counter attacks. The sound of clanging metal resounded around the entire island. Finally something caused Skyler to hit the ground. Her sword fell not to far from her, but far enough that she couldn't reach it. Sora stood over her with the keyblade held above his head.

"What are you doing?" Skyler asked.

"Enjoying the moment." Skyler grinned. She used his current distraction to her advantage and snaked her legs around his left leg. She touch her ankles together and bent her knees, pulling back hard and pulling Sora down, knocking the keyblade out of his hand.

"Draw?" Sora asked.

"Draw."

----------

Nicolette examined her sword. She looked at the engraving of a dragon on the hilt. The lean creature slithered between the line of three teal gems. She fingered the beast of myths and legends then moved to the gem on the top of the pommel. It gave a soft glow when hit with the sunlight that streaked through the window. She had never noticed the craftsmanship of the weapon. She gripped the hilt as if it was going to save her life.

She thought of her friends. What were they doing now? She knew Skyler was fine. But what about Kaylee? How was she dealing with the Organization members? Nicolette placed the sword on her bed and crossed the room to her desk where her laptop lay. She opened it and quickly tapped the keys, enjoying the soft noise that came from them. It was the only noise she could hear and she liked to know that silence could exist around here.

It always seemed to be loud wherever she was. School, here…Now that she thought about it, these were the only places she'd been to. Sure she had a home. But that was when she was younger. Her parents were taken by the heartless when she was small and she hadn't seen them since. Ever since then she felt a mix of fear, anger, and hatred towards anything that had to do with darkness. She hated that Kaylee had to be with Nobodies. She knew that if she were there she wouldn't be able to contain her feelings.

She felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away as if someone was there and she was ashamed to cry. She finally opened her e-mail. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She quickly clicked 'compose mail'. She typed Kaylee's address into the bar and sat there thinking of what to say.

'_Kaylee,_'

That was all that was on the document for quite a while. Then she thought of it.

'_I can't tell you how much I hate that you are with the Organization Nobodies. It's horrible._'

Another tear rolled down her cheek. She let this one escape and a few more seemed to take advantage and fell.

'_I miss you and Skyler so much. I want to hear from you._'

More tears came. Nicolette couldn't tell if they were from her worry for Kaylee or because of the memories of her parents swimming in her head.

'_Write back. Your Friend, Nicolette._'

Nicolette clicked the 'send' button before allowing her eyes to free the tears that lined them. She shut the laptop and returned to the bed, weeping silently. Then a song came to her.

"If you could close your eyes," she sang quietly, gripping the puzzle-piece shaped charm on her necklace, "And just imagine everything's alright. But do not hide those tears. Cause they were sent to wash away those years."

It was a song she and her mother loved. They would blast it on the radio and sing as loud as they could to their hearts' content. What she didn't know was that someone was outside the door listening to her song. It was that familiar gun blade warrior Leon.

He had come to ask her why she really wanted to talk to him when she started singing and he dared not interrupt her. In fact, he didn't want to. When no more lyrics came he turned on his heel and returned to his room.

----------

After shadowing Zexion for the day Kaylee was bored out of her mind. He didn't teach her much. Just gave her a grand tour of the castle- half of which she had already seen –and explained the personalities of the other members. She took her time alone to check her mail. When she looked she found Nicolette's message. She smiled when she finished.

'_Hey Nikki! I'm doing just fine here. No need to worry! Honest. I know you don't like these Nobodies…or any…but they're treating me fine. Just like one of their own. Of course, that is most likely because they think I'm one of their own. I miss you, too. Tell Skyler I say the same to her. I haven't found out anything of recent plans. Miss you! Remember Nikki, life's a puzzle. You have to put together the pieces. Read the necklace! Kaylee._'

She grinned and sent the message, hoping it would make Nicolette happy. She wished she could send a message to Skyler but knew it was forbidden. If the Organization found out they'd track her e-mails straight to Skyler and, worse, Sora.

----------

Skyler and Sora were engaging in a wonderful game of slaps. Sora was repeatedly trying to slap Skyler but she was too quick and always got away from him. Finally they switched and it was Skyler's turn to slap him. She got him every time. By the time they were done Sora's hands were colored red.

"Hey, Sora?" Skyler asked.

"Yeah?"

"Race ya to the water!" With that said the young warrior stood up and took off for the ocean. Sora grunted and sprinted after her. Once the met in the water, Skyler tackled Sora and the two began wrestling. Every now and then one of them would get pushed under the water and the other would have to wait until they stopped coughing so they could resume.

"You two are way too competitive," said a voice. They stopped to look up and see Riku standing in the shallows shaking his head.

"Aw, it's fun," said Skyler.

"Why don't you join us?" Sora asked.

"I don't know. You two can be a little rough," Riku joked. Skyler and Sora laughed.

"Okay then," said Skyler. She unexpectedly pounced on Sora and the two grappled. Riku started laughing, which was just what Skyler wanted. She got off Sora and launched herself at Riku, causing him to fall back into the waves. Sora jumped on them and they started a three-way wrestling match. To any passer by they were just a tangled mass of arms and legs flailing the water.

The returned later that night when the sky was completely ink-black and the only light was from the fading moon and twinkling stars. All three were soaked to the bone.

"Well that was fun," Sora commented.

"Yeah," Skyler and Riku sighed in unison.

"I do stuff like that with Nicolette and Kaylee all the time," said Skyler.

"You miss them?" Riku asked.

"A lot," replied Skyler. "But you guys are fun, too!"

**A/N**

(dodges stuff thrown by reviewers who wanted a longer chapter) I'm sorry! I had writer's block so this is sort of a filler chapter. But hey, you learned more about the characters right? Right?! Sorry for any typos. I was too tired to proof-read. And the song Nicolette was singing was Wash Away Those Years by Creed. I take no credit for it. R&R

-Wolf


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Hi! I still don't own KH or KHII and I still own the OCs and plot.

_Chapter VIII_

Kaylee followed Zexion into the training arena where she had first fought Axel.

"What are we doing?" she asked, to her surprise, more out of curiosity than nervousness.

"_I'm_ not doing anything. _You're_ fighting Demyx," Zexion stated. Kaylee felt the little color in her face vanish as she grew paler than before.

"What?" The girl stopped dead in her tracks, refusing to take another step.

"I've seen how well you did with Axel. Now I need to see if that was dumb luck or a good fight." His voice kept a consistent, calm monotone only broken when he put emphasis on a particular word.

"And I-I'm fighting Demyx?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"N-No Zexion."

"Good." Zexion pointed to the center of the arena where Demyx was waiting, his lips set in a warm smile as Kaylee walked in. "Whenever you're ready."

There was a long pause between the two as they examined each other and waited for the other to make the first strike. Suddenly Kaylee sprung at the blond musician, sword raised.

"Squee!" she shouted. Demyx stifled a laugh as he remembered the hyper-active teen's battle cry. He strummed the sitar's strings and a blast of water kept her away. It did more than that, actually. Kaylee was pushed to the ground, some of the water dripping off her steel blade.

"Ow…" She pushed herself back up and tried again, and again she was blocked with another blast of water. "Owie!" The third time she tried he accidentally sent too strong of a wave her way and when she hit the ground she said or did nothing.

"Kexlae?" he asked. Nothing. He ran to the fallen warrior and tapped her shoulder. "Kexlae?"

"Ouchies…" she groaned. Demyx held out a hand and helped her up. She looked at him with a huge grin. "Thank you!"

And with that Kaylee had jumped up and threw her arms around Demyx's neck, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. A confused Zexion walked out to them and watched them with, well, confusion.

"Kexlae? Kexlae?"

"Yes?" Kaylee asked, not releasing Demyx.

"He's turning blue."

"Oh." She let go of Number Nine and looked him with complete sorrow.

"It's okay. It didn't hurt that much," he reassured. She grinned and was desperate to keep herself from pouncing on him again.

--------

Nicolette stood at her window, looking out to the destroyed portion of Hollow Bastion. A small sigh escaped her lips.

_How much longer do I have to do this?_, she wondered. She sighed once more and returned to her desk where she found an unopened message on her laptop. It was from Kaylee. She rubbed the pommel of her sword, which was belted at her hip, and thought about how much she hated the Nobodies. Kaylee's letter was reassuring but didn't settle her nerves. Upon reading it she found her hand moving from the sword's pommel to her necklace, which she gripped so tightly it seemed as if she wanted it to save her life. She couldn't think of anything to say to her friend, so her reply simply asked if she had found out anything about the Organization.

She clicked send and stayed immobile for a few minutes, refusing to let go of the charm on her necklace. There was a knock on her door.

"It's open," she said weakly. When the door was pushed open she was shocked to see Leon enter. "Leon?"

"Yeah?'

"What are you doing?" she asked, hoping she didn't come across as rude.

"I wanted to know why you came to my room the other day." She rubbed the charm, still not letting go.

"I gave you my reason. It hasn't changed." He nodded.

"Just being sure." As he turned to walk out she couldn't help but ask,

"You're not used to people caring?" He turned suddenly.

"What?"

"You're not used to people caring." This time it came out as more of a statement than a question.

"No, it's not that."

"Okay."

"Really."

"I believe you." Leon turned but didn't leave. He just remained in her doorway, back turned to her.

"They don't care," he said without turning.

"Who?"

"Yuffie and Cid. They don't care."

"I'm sure they do." Leon shook his head.

"I used to say the same thing. They don't care." He held onto the doorframe, keeping himself from punching the wall out of frustration. The two stayed silent. "Why do you care?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you care?" he repeated.

"Because I know who it feels to have the world against you." He turned and gave her one of those 'what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about' looks. "My parents were taken by the Heartless when I was little. I don't know what happened or if they're still...I just know how you feel." She stopped herself before tears started flowing. She didn't want to embarrass herself.

"Okay." Her grip on the charm tightened. "What is that?"

"The charm?" she asked, opening her palm as she felt the sharp edges making marks against her skin. "It's a friendship thing." She let him examine it.

"It's nice."

"Thanks."

----------

"We have a lot of work to do," Zexion stated. Kaylee nodded.

"Are you going to fight me, then?" she asked.

"No. I'm going to be more of a referee." She cocked her head slightly.

"Then who am I gonna fight?" Zexion didn't need to say anything else, for the hyper teen's question was answered when none other then Marluxia walked in. Kaylee gulped past the hard lump in her throat. "Oh dear."

"Not worry," said Marluxia calmly. "I'm not fighting you yet."

"You're not?" she asked.

"I'm going to show you how to use your opponent's weapon against them."

"Oh dear," Kaylee repeated. Marluxia pulled a long sword from behind his back. The hilt had small flowers carved into it, but to her surprise that didn't make the weapon look feminine. The flowers were carved in an almost medieval way that made them seem threatening. The blade was tinged the faintest red. She unsheathed her own weapon, worried about how puny it looked compared to the sword Marluxia was holding.

"Don't worry. Just step in the arena."

Kaylee did as she told, Marluxia following close behind. As they made it to the center they looked up to see Zexion leaning over the boards.

----------

"So how long have you been training at the academy?" Riku asked, turning away from the brilliant sunset for the first time in about five minutes. Skyler pulled her knees up and hugged them against her chest.

"I don't know. As long as I can remember; I basically grew up there." She sighed, but he stayed silent, knowing she had more to say. "My parents separated when I was four."

"Any siblings?"

"A brother, Kale."

"Does he train, too?" She sighed.

"No. He lived with my mother. She sent me to the school so that I could defend myself against the heartless. They attacked us after my dad left. They knew we were weak."

"Do you miss them? Your family, I mean."

"Yes. Well, Kale and my mother at least. I don't know my dad too well. I haven't seen him since I was six. I'm sure Kale sees him, though." As she spoke Skyler sensed something in her voice that wasn't usually there. Was it envy? Or even resentment?

"Are you jealous of that?" Riku asked, noticed the new tone as well.

"I don't know. From what I remember of my dad, he wasn't that great. After the divorce he tried to buy back mine and Kale's affection, not knowing that he already had it. We'd see him for two weeks, he'd go away and when he came back he'd give us something he bought for us. Whenever we'd see him he'd try and buy us something. It got a little annoying."

"So how long have you known your friends?"

"Nicolette and Kaylee? God, it's hard to remember. I meet Nicolette when I was little. She had some troubles with her family and lived with us for a while, then my mom sent us to the academy, where we met Kaylee. We've been best friends ever since."

"So, where did you grow up?" There was a long wait for a reply as Skyler wracked her brain, desperately trying to remember.

"I've been away so long. I haven't been home for the summer in years. I don't even know where I was born." Riku gave her a supportive smile and she smiled back. Then the nice moment they were having was broken by Riku being tackled by someone. The two went rolling down the hill Riku and Skyler were sitting on.

"Noooo!" Skyler screamed. It was then that she realized it was only Sora and the were merely rolling down a hill. She ran after the boys at top speed. "Sora, you meanie!" she shouted. And, just as Sora was getting up, Skyler tackled him. In just a few swift moves Skyler had thrown him into the ocean and started walking back up the hill. Poor Riku was left glancing between a flailing Sora and an angry Skyler.

----------

Soft evening winds blew gently on the red curtains in a plain office. As the curtains blew around they seemed to give some color to the white walls. Behind a desk, Master Adán was tapping a pencil lightly on the oak desk.

"They'll do fine," he assured himself, "They're my best warriors."

_And if that's so, why do I feel as if something will go amiss?_

**A/N**

Okay, there it is. The chapter you've all been waiting. Now prepare to wait another (insert estimated period of time here) for the ninth! R&R

Wolf


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Don't own KH, COM, or KHII. I also don't own the story that Skyler tells. Own OCs. Own plot.

_**Chapter VIIII**_

Kaylee looked up at Marluxia, fear in her eyes.

"Don't look so scared," he advised. "I'm here to help you, remember?"

Kaylee nodded and held her sword a little higher, trying to prove to Marluxia and Zexion- and to herself- that she did have the confidence to do this. Marluxia raised his own blade.

"Make the first move," he ordered. Kaylee took one almost unnoticeable step back, then put all of her energy into running towards the pink-haired warrior. Marluxia quickly shot his blade in front of hers and allowed the force of the metals' collision to knock her off balance. Once she was, he only needed half of his energy to push her down.

"Ow," the girl groaned. Marluxia smiled and helped her up.

"Do you think you would be able to do that if I attacked you?"

"No," Kaylee admitted. She let her arms hang limply at her sides as she barely held on to the weapon in her hand.

"Then I'll have to teach you." She looked up, fear, worry, and shock spread across her face. "What? All Organization members have to be good fighters. Makes us all useful around here. Also helps us survive living with everyone else. So, show me your stance."

----------

A harsh storm took place outside. Nicolette didn't mind it, though. In fact, she loved it. She loved the sound of rain on the roof, whether it was the gentle pitter-patter of a small spring shower, or the rough beats of a thousand gallons of water being released from dozens of pregnant clouds. The sound was always soothing to her. So, as the lights slowly flickered as the first sign of the power going out, Nicolette was curled up on her bed with a rather large book, reading the impressive works of Edgar Allen Poe while listen to the tough beats of the storm's rain.

----------

Skyler looked out of the window of her Gummi ship. She saw gray clouds rolling in and knew that they were going to be in for a rough night. And as a small drizzle of rain started to sound on the metal roof, she also heard the banging of someone at the door. In fact, it was three people: Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"Getting soaked," Sora replied. Skyler grinned and opened the door wider.

"Come on in." The three made their way into their friend's temporary home and sat on the small day bed that was currently arranged as a couch. Skyler moved over to the tiny kitchen area, were a teapot was steaming, alerting her that the water inside had boiled. "I was just making some cocoa. Want some?"

"Sure," Riku answered. He was now in the middle of Sora and Kairi, Sora on his right and Kairi to his left, who were both nodding in agreement to his answer. Skyler smiled and took some mugs from on of the downsized cabinets.

"I love days like this," she commented as she handed her friends mugs of steaming hot cocoa. She grabbed a wooded chair, which she had placed small throw pillows on as makeshift cushions, and sat across from them, her own mug in hand.

"Why's that?" Kairi asked.

"It's just…I don't know. It's nice."

"Kind of dreary if you ask me," said Sora.

"I like dreary," said Skyler. She took a sip of the cocoa, pulling it away quickly after realizing how hot she'd made it. She smiled at the now giggling trio and blow softly on the surface of the drink.

----------

"That's enough for today," said Marluxia, sheathing his sword.

"Okay," said Kaylee, doing the same with her own weapon. She and Marluxia walked out of the arena. Kaylee moved to Zexion's side while Marluxia continued on, moving back to his room, most likely. As he past Zexion gave him a nod of thanks.

"You're dismissed for today," he then said to Kaylee.

"But Superior said…"

"Superior made me your mentor and that means I decide when you leave or stay." With those words the Cloaked Schemer departed. Kaylee watched after him then looked down into the large training arena. There were marks in the dirt where she had been thrown down by Marluxia. She sighed and considered going back to her room. But then she remembered the chaos that usually took place in the halls, making it hard to think. She slumped down and leaned against the high wall of the boards that kept spectators from entering the ring.

"What're you doing?" a familiar voice asked. Kaylee looked up to see Demyx standing over her.

"Nothing," she said. "Just thinking."

"About what?" he asked, sitting crossed-legged beside her.

"Just…Just about my friends. I haven't seen them since…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered that she had to keep her cover.

"Since you changed?" he asked.

"What?"

"Since you changed into a Nobody," he explained.

"Oh, right. Yeah."

"You're lucky," he stated.

"How's that?" she asked, happy to finally have an actual conversation with someone.

"You can remember your friends. I can't remember anything. None of us can."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. I guess that's why we're looking for our hearts. They'll make us each somebody and give us back the lives we had before."

"You could probably remember if you wanted to."

"Believe me, Kexlae, we want to. But desire can't get us everything, can it?"

"I guess," Kaylee replied. She smiled at her companion. She had always seen him as a goofy, care-free, almost a bit dumb kind of guy. She was almost surprised to hear thoughts as deep as this coming from him.

----------

As Nicolette read her book, the lights flickered one last time before going out. She heard Yuffie scream, obviously startled by the sudden black-out, Cid yell at her to shut up, and Aerith yell at both of them to help her look for flashlights. She smiled at how the scene she listened probably looked. She then remembered Leon. No sound came from him. Not that she expected any to. He'd always been especially quiet. She pushed herself out of the comfortable position on the bed and dug through her drawers until she found some candles.

She the off-white candles on tall candlesticks that were placed neatly around the room. One think, faded pink candle fit neatly in a bowl that also held some nice popery. She light each candle with a spell she'd learned at the academy and smiled as the aroma of vanilla and rosemary filled the room. The popery also added a dull scent of berries. She also enjoyed the dim light given off by the candles' flames. She slowly crawled back on the bed, curled back up, and began reading once more.

----------

"So, what do you want to do?" Riku asked.

"I don't know," Sora replied. "What do you want to do?"

"Don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Do they do this often?" Skyler asked. Kairi nodded.

"Every time it rains." Upon hearing the girls' conversation they too boys shut their mouths.

"Why don't we tell scary stories?" Skyler suggested. As everyone agreed she turned out the lights and lit some candles, originally taken with her in case of an emergency. But for now, they set a good mood for some creepy tales of things that go bump in the night.

"Who wants to go first?" Sora asked.

"How about Skyler?" said Riku after taking a sip of his cocoa. Skyler smiled.

"I'd be happy to! Ooh and I have a great one, too! My friends, Nicolette and Kaylee, told it to me. It's called Jackal."

Before beginning, Skyler threw a blanket toward the trio and wrapped one around herself.

"So, there was this kid, Zack. He'd just moved and was having trouble fitting in and making friends. So, for Christmas, his parents got him a small German-Shepard-mix puppy. He named the dog Jackal."

"Wait," Sora interrupted. "What's so scary about a _dog_?"

"Just listen to the story," said Riku, tossing a throw pillow at the brunette's head. Sora grunted and Skyler cleared her throat.

"Anyway, Zack and Jackal did everything together. They were inseparable. And when Zack was about fifteen, his parents felt he was ready to stay home alone. So they told him all the usual rules- no friends over, don't open the door, don't answer the phone, etc- and left. So Zack did what any teenage boy who was left home alone would do. He ate pizza, played video games, did a minimal amount of homework so the teacher wouldn't kill him, ate more pizza and played more video games.

"He had taken a break from his game for a while and when he was about to turn it back on the power went out. Jackal barked and rushed to Zack's side. Zack pet the dog and assured him everything was alright. Then he went to the window to see if anyone else's power was out. He figured it might have been a blackout. But he looked up and down each side of his street and everyone else had some sort of electric device on. A TV, a radio, or a bunch of lights. Zack's was the only house that was pitch black. He saw a light go off in his neighbor's house, but he soon saw it was only because someone was going to bed. Someone else still had a light on on the lower floor.

"Zack then hurried through the house, flicking all the light switches along his way. It was no use, though. No lights worked. As he walked down the upstairs hallway it occurred to him that he only had one more room to check. So he slowly pushed open the bathroom door and flicked the switch. To his amazement the lights turned on. But when he looked down, I can't say that Zack was pleased with what he saw."

----------

"So what can you remember about your friends?" Demyx asked suddenly. Kaylee was pulled out of the daydream the silence had put her in.

"What?"

"Your friends? What can you remember about them?"

"Oh, um." Kaylee hoped she looked like she was thinking back on memories for, in reality, she was trying to think about what things she could tell Demyx about Nicolette and Skyler that would make it seem like she was a Nobody. "Small things. What they were like, what they liked to do, and I have some memories about things we'd do together."

"So not their names?"

"No."

"I guess that means you don't remember your true name." Kaylee shook her head, trying to look sad.

"Nope."

"Hey, Kexlae?"

"Yes?" Demyx hesitated before asking,

"What's it like to remember?" There was a pause. "To have memories, I mean."

"Oh, it's like…well." Kaylee didn't know how to put this. She knew what Demyx meant. Memories of the past. It was like if he were asking her to explain what it felt like to be able to reminisce, which was basically what he was doing. But she never had to explain how it felt to have memories of when she was younger. "It's hard to explain."

"Aw, c'mon! I'm sure you could," Demyx urged. Kaylee took interest in the ground as she tried to think of how to explain.

"Well, it's kind of like…..It's almost like…..It's almost like going back in time. If it's a good memory, or something you remember well, you can probably see every single little thing that happened. It it's something harder to remember you can still see little pieces of it."

"It must be nice," he said.

"It…It is."

----------

Nicolette took a quick recess from her book to look outside at the bleak, almost black sky. The falling raindrops magnified the clouds as they fell. A roll of thunder echoed through Hollow Bastion, followed by streak of lightening, cracking through the sky like a whip and recoiling back just as quickly.

She curled up tighter; the only thing keeping her knees from hitting her chest was the thick book she was holding. It wasn't that she didn't like the rain. No, no it wasn't that at all. As I told you before, she loved it. But when it rained like this it was not her favorite thing in the world. It reminded her of the night that her parents were taken and she was left to fend for herself. Sure, she had Skyler's family backing her up, but she did feel alone. Her parents were gone. She had no other family around. If you squint hard enough, she was alone.

She shuddered as she remembered each detail of that day perfectly.

_Five-year-old Nicolette was busy building up a block tower on her living room floor. Her father was scanning the newspaper in his recliner and her mother was getting dinner started in the kitchen. Suddenly the house began shaking violently. Nicolette's tower collapsed into a pile of wooden block. Her father slammed down his paper, hurried and stood quickly while her mother hurried to pick up her daughter._

_"What's going on?" Mrs. Montego asked, hugging Nicolette close to her._

_"I don't know," her husband replied. They heard a ruckus outside and raced to see what it was. Once their front door slammed behind them they met the sounds of screams from women and children and desperate yells from the men trying to protect them. Nicolette held on to her mother afraid of the noise she heard around her. Mrs. Montego carefully put her daughter down. Nicolette wrapped her tiny hand around Mrs. Montego's. _

_"It's okay, Nikki."_

_"What's everyone running from?!" Mr. Montego bellowed over the crowd. He didn't have to wait long for a response. Standing in front of the family of three was a tiny black creature. Its antennae bobbed as it moved its tiny head. Its eyes were the only feature of a face it possessed. Large yellow ovals the only real color on its black body. "Get Nikki out of here!"_

_Mrs. Montego nodded and picked up the five-year-old once more. They raced away from the tiny creatures that were popping up everywhere. They soon found Nicolette's best friend Skyler holding on to her older brother, Kale's, hand. _

_"Mrs. Montego!" Kale called, pulling his sister closer to him. "We'll take Nikki!"_

_"Thank you, Kale, thank you." Mrs. Montego put her daughter down again. "Nicolette, I'll see you soon."_

_The little girl merely nodded as Kale took her hand with his free hand. He smiled to her mother then took the girls to his family's Gummi ship._

_"I love you, Nicolette!" her mother called as they vanished from sight._

_"Where's Momma?" Skyler asked her brother._

_"I don't know, Sky. Just get in the ship." Skyler and Nicolette hurried into the vehicle and Kale drove them away. All they way into the dark night sky Skyler and Nicolette looked out the window, watching their world, their home, be destroyed by those black creatures; by the Heartless._

_'I love you, too, Mommy' was the only thing running through Nicolette's mind._

"I love you too." Nicolette clutched the charm on her necklace tightly as the tears began to fall. She didn't try to subdue them now. She welcomed them. And so the teenaged girl let the tears fall like the rain outside her window.

----------

"On the floor was a slightly thick, bright red liquid. It was blood." Skyler looked at her audience of three, Riku looking interested, Sora looking surprised, and Kairi looking frightened. "He swallowed past a lump in his throat as he heard a moan. He looked up to see ghosts flying through the far wall. They would fly out, moan, groan, or scream, then float back to the wall. 'Get out' they screamed at him, 'leave the house' and 'save yourself'. Zack backed up out fear and tried to fight a scream as he ran back downstairs.

"He ran to Jackal for comfort, but something wasn't right about the Shepard mix. His eyes were glowing a bright red and two fang-like teeth stuck out from beneath his lip. Zack shivered but thought his imagination was playing tricks on him and tried to pet Jackal. But when he touched the dog's shoulders he felt nothing. He stroked his back. Nothing. He pat his head. Nothing. He rubbed his legs. Still nothing! The only part of Jackal Zack could feel was his wagging tail.

"Zack, not knowing what to do, paced the floor worriedly. Jackal followed him, watching him with his now red eyes. Suddenly the dog began to bark. Zack's heart jumped but he was relieved to find it was only because of a passing car. Although he couldn't feel the dog, Zack pet Jackal to comfort him. He then found a flashlight and began to read a book, hoping to pass the time.

"But, as he read, he heard a low growl. He looked up from the pages of the book to see Jackal, white teeth bared, red eyes glowing, growling at him. 'What is it, boy?' Zack asked. Jackal continued to growl. Then he pounced on his owner, knocking off the couch and to the ground. 'Jackal, it's me! Jackal!' Zack screamed, but the dog continued to fight him. The two had a rolling match on the ground before Zack managed to push the Shepard into the hall closet. He went to the bathroom and did his best to ignore the screaming ghosts as he cleaned his cuts.

"When he got back downstairs Zack checked his watch to see it was ten thirty. His parents where supposed to home by ten. Concluding that they must be running late he returned to his book. After about and hour Jackal calmed down and Zack decided to let him out. But once again, I can't tell you that what he saw pleased him."

**A/N**

Okay, this chapter is long enough. If you like the Jackal story, then, yay! It will be continued next chapter. And that Myxy moment was just for you Mistytail! Sorry for any typos but I was too tired to proof read. Bye!

Wolf


End file.
